RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A useful metric in planning for different oncology clinical trial phases
is the ratio of patients to investigator sites. The profiled trials in
Cutting Edge Information’s latest study show a strong correlation
between number of patients and number of sites.

The study, “Oncology Clinical Trials: Drug Development Resources and
Case Studies,” uncovered the average number of patients per site of
reported oncology trials. Phase 1 trials span the widest range: 5.3 to
35.3 patients per site. The average ratio reported for Phase 1 trials is
12.9 patients per trial site. Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials average 3.4 and
5.1 patients per site, respectively.

“Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials have much smaller patient groups at each
investigator site,” said Ryan McGuire, senior research analyst at
Cutting Edge Information. “These clinical tests require patients with a
very specific disease state, slowing patient
recruitment.” Because of this requirement, trial managers depend on
more sites. Although average overall enrollment is much greater for
later-phase trials, enrollment is spread over many more sites.

Overall, trial managers can plan for higher patient enrollment per Phase
1 trial site. Phase 1 trial protocols generally require fewer
patients, simplifying the patient recruitment process. The combination
of patients and healthy volunteers makes recruitment easier yet.
Meanwhile, Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials tend to have more sites while
serving fewer patients at each site. These metrics are useful to trial
managers when deciding how many sites a trial will need to reach the
target patient enrollment level.

“Oncology Clinical Trials: Drug Development Resources and Case Studies” (http://www.cuttingedgeinfo.com/research/clinical-development/oncology-clinical-trials/)
features detailed data on clinical development for oncology treatment
including specific methods for allocating the correct resources in Phase
3. The research also highlights up-to-date metrics illustrating clinical
costs for oncology trials, one of the largest areas of study for the
pharmaceutical industry. Drug companies that manufacture oncology
medicines can use this report to:

Explore areas of higher activity for different types of cancer drug
development.

Get a robust picture of each phase’s challenges and costs.

Determine the cost per patient and other critical cost drivers for
different types of oncology clinical trials.